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Monday, September 19, 2011

Earthquake in India - Sunday 18.09.2011

An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale shook Sikkim on Sunday evening. The epicenter of the quake was Mangan(64km from Gangtok,Sikkim).The extent of damages is yet to be assessed as relief and rescue is yet to reach affected areas.
Official sources said the casualties could go up as the affected areas were in remote areas and there was not much information flowing in. In Sikkim, there were also reports of landslips as it was raining, and power supply was seriously disrupted. Mobile phone services were not functioning and only BSNL lines were working.
Three aftershocks, of magnitude 5.7, 5.1 and 4.6 were also felt in Sikkim.Many buildings in Sikkim developed cracks, including the Sikkim Manipal University building. Key roads to the Hills have been badly damaged, leaving Sikkim virtually cut off from the rest of the country.
4 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed to Sikkim and 5 more teams were being sent from Kolkata.
The earthquake in Sikkim is the 4th in India -
1) The first quake in India was reported in Manipur's Ukhrul district September 4, and its intensity was 4.2.
2)  The second, on September 7, was also of low 4.2 intensity and epicentred in Sonepat,Haryana.
3) The third on September 11 was epicentred in Gujarat's Kutch region, but its intensity was a mere 3.4



Strong tremors were also felt in parts of North and East India.

 Panic-stricken residents wait on the street after fleeing their houses following an earthquake in Patna.


A man shows the cracks that developed on the walls of his house following the earthquake in Siliguri

Army rescue team pull out a vehicle crushed by a boulder after Sunday's earthquake at Chungthang in north Sikkim.

Residents and patients from a local hospital take shelter in a temple after Sunday's earthquake in Gangtok


Many people were injured, power supply was disrupted in parts of northern West Bengal and houses developed cracks as a powerful quake, epicentred in adjoining Sikkim.

The toll in north Sikkim, the epicentre of the quake, rose to 41 on Monday and many more were feared dead under the debris of buildings and houses.The national highway and state highways, all district link roads and interior roads, bridges, canals, hospitals and office buildings have been badly affected.

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